To spare you is no profit, Quote by Khmer Rouge
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The Khmer Rouge is a name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, formed in 1968. At the time they took control of Cambodia, they renamed it Kampuchea and began a strict regime that would involve the genocide of an estimated 2 million.The driving force behind the genocide was racism and a deep-seated hatred of Western-style capitalism and anti-communism.
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Overview
A Cambodian communist movement emerged in the 1940's as a result of the struggle against French colonization, known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). This strong nationalist and communist movement began to grow. Soon after, Cambodia received its independence from France in the year 1953, following the First Indochina War. The peace after their independence was short lived, however. The CPK, whose leader was Pol Pot, began to vie for control of Cambodia. A U.S. backed coup in March 1970 deposed Sihanouk, replacing him with Marshal Lon Nol whom had previously served as prime minister. However, Sihanouk was allied with the CPK, or the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge led an insurgency against Marshal Lon Nol which lasted until 1975, when they took power of Cambodia and renamed it the Democratic State of Kampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge had a twisted view of an ideal society. They insisted on agricultural reform and self-sufficiency. They wanted to create ideal communists for the new Kampuchea state, meant to be agrarian. Their view of ideal communists were the "old people" or the people who were currently living without modern influences in the countryside, such as farmers. People who lived in the cities and worked in businesses or other areas such as medicine, science, or education were viewed as sullied by capitalism. These people were known as the "new people". If a person were anything other than an illiterate, selfless, hard-working peasant, they were corrupted by capitalism, regardless of the actual morals of the individuals. In fact, they believed in these ideas of anti-capitalism so much, that they refuted modern medicines and technology for ancient ineffective methods of healing, which led to preventable deaths. Their reign ended in 1979, and their infamous Cambodian genocide devastated the country in innumerable ways.
A Cambodian communist movement emerged in the 1940's as a result of the struggle against French colonization, known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). This strong nationalist and communist movement began to grow. Soon after, Cambodia received its independence from France in the year 1953, following the First Indochina War. The peace after their independence was short lived, however. The CPK, whose leader was Pol Pot, began to vie for control of Cambodia. A U.S. backed coup in March 1970 deposed Sihanouk, replacing him with Marshal Lon Nol whom had previously served as prime minister. However, Sihanouk was allied with the CPK, or the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge led an insurgency against Marshal Lon Nol which lasted until 1975, when they took power of Cambodia and renamed it the Democratic State of Kampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge had a twisted view of an ideal society. They insisted on agricultural reform and self-sufficiency. They wanted to create ideal communists for the new Kampuchea state, meant to be agrarian. Their view of ideal communists were the "old people" or the people who were currently living without modern influences in the countryside, such as farmers. People who lived in the cities and worked in businesses or other areas such as medicine, science, or education were viewed as sullied by capitalism. These people were known as the "new people". If a person were anything other than an illiterate, selfless, hard-working peasant, they were corrupted by capitalism, regardless of the actual morals of the individuals. In fact, they believed in these ideas of anti-capitalism so much, that they refuted modern medicines and technology for ancient ineffective methods of healing, which led to preventable deaths. Their reign ended in 1979, and their infamous Cambodian genocide devastated the country in innumerable ways.
Genocide
To meet their goals, the Khmer first evacuated everyone in cities into collective farms in the countryside. People who resisted were killed on the spot, thousands died. The Khmer Rouge wanted to create an equal classless society. So they began to eradicate nearly everything: mass media, foreign styles, schools, religious buildings, shops, private property, money, transportation, and many other things. Everyone was stripped of their rights and made to labor endlessly with insufficient food rations to meet impossible production quotas. Families were separated, and they forced people to accept Angkar Padevat as their mother and father. Because of the separation of families, children were often taken and brainwashed into believing that their society and government was the ideal. |
The Khmer Rouge executed thousands of minorities, intellectuals, and city-dwellers who they had believed to be "impure" and incapable of forming their perfect society. Paranoia was an influential factor among the people of the Khmer rouge. Often they would send government officials and military officers to be interrogated, tortured, and executed under the pretense that they were "traitors". They would find foolish reasons to execute others. One could be executed for wearing glasses, or eating bugs or plants to supplement their meager food rations. Under these conditions, nearly 2 million Cambodians died.
Fights soon broke out between Cambodia and Vietnam. An attempt to take back lands from Vietnam that were formerly part of the ancient Khmer Empire backfired. In December 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia. By January 1979, they had overthrown the Khmer Rouge but late they withdrew. A new government was established in 1982 called the People's Republic of Kampuchea which governed Cambodia until 1993, when it was replaced by an elected government supervised by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Camboia (UNATC). The Royal Government of Cambodia was established. The Khmer Rouge had continued to resist and fight these governments, until 1999 when the movement fell apart. |